Joe Torre’s return to New York wasn’t a happy one as the Mets beat up on the Dodgers 8-4 Thursday.
David Wright blasted two home runs and the top five hitters in the Mets’ lineup went 11-for-21. Claudio Vargas did not pitch very well in what could possibly be his last start, but he did enough for the win. The New York bullpen shut the door with 3-1/3 innings of scoreless relief.
The crowd still gave Torre a warm welcome and, during the the seventh inning when he went to remove reliever Scott Proctor, they applauded for Torre who tipped his cap at them.
The win makes it three-straight for the Mets and returns them back to .500 at 26-26. It’s not where they expected to be when the season started, but they are only four-games behind Florida and with Pedro Martinez likely to return next week things are suddenly looking a lot better than they have over the past few weeks.
Photograph of the crowd at Shea giving Torre some applause in the seventh inning by Kathy Willens/AP
